Monday, May 8, 2000

Qantas crash jet forced to abort flights By PHILIP CORNFORD

A Qantas jumbo jet that recently underwent $100 million in repairs after a runway crash was forced to abort two weekend flights out of Hong Kong because a generator failed.

The plane was carrying 259 Sydney-bound passengers and 18 crew when the flights were aborted on Saturday night and yesterday.

The Boeing 747-400, one of the biggest jets in the Qantas fleet, returned to service on April 8 following a $100 million repair job in China after it skidded off the runway at Bangkok Airport on September 23. It has made 51 flights since returning to service.

In the seventh safety incident involving Qantas since the Bangkok accident, flight QF128 on Saturday night turned back to Hong Kong International Airport an hour after take-off when a warning light indicated a generator had failed.

The jumbo dumped fuel before landing at 11.30pm. Passengers were taken to hotels where they spent the night while Qantas ground engineers repaired the problem.

The passengers reboarded QF128 yesterday morning but the flight was again aborted at noon local time when the same warning light began flashing as the plane taxied to its take-off position.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the passengers were put on flights to Sydney yesterday afternoon and last night. "We guarantee they will all be in Sydney by tomorrow [Monday] morning," she said.

The spokeswoman said the generator was one of four on the aircraft. "The captain elected to return as a precaution," she said.

The spokeswoman said the aircraft would be back in service as soon as the problem was repaired.

The Boeing 747-400 suffered major damage when it skidded off the runway on Bangkok's Don Muang airport during a rainstorm. QF1 was carrying 391 passengers plus crew on a flight from London to Sydney.

The latest problems are certain to revive criticisms that Qantas had the plane repaired - the most expensive repair job in aviation history - only because it wanted to maintain its record of never having to write off a plane.

Qantas's chief executive, Mr James Strong, denied this, saying the repair costs were 40 per cent of the aircraft's value.

The plane was repaired in China. A Qantas engineer, who asked not to be named, told the Herald that he and his colleagues had predicted that the plane would suffer electrical failures because of the quality of workmanship in China.

Last night, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, which represents about 1,000 Qantas staff, said it was calling for a Senate inquiry into Qantas's maintenance and safety procedures.

The union's national secretary, Mr Doug Cameron, said it was concerned about the quality of maintenance outsourced in South-East Asia and the United States. It did not accept Qantas claims that only 20 per cent of maintenance was out-sourced.

Qantas has suffered a series of problems which have challenged its reputation as the safest airline in the world.

On April 22, the undercarriage of QF16 to Melbourne, a Boeing 747-300 with 303 passengers and 19 crew, collapsed while the plane was taxiing before take-off from Rome International Airport, tipping the plane onto one wing and spilling fuel.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said damage to the 14-year-old aircraft was so serious it should be classed as an "accident" rather than an "incident".

Other incidents include:

September 2, 1999: A 747 engine scraped the runway in Perth in gusty conditions.

November 2, 1999: Pilots were forced to don oxygen masks after fumes entered the cockpit of a 767 between Sydney and Melbourne.

November 14, 1999: An emergency exit chute inflated inside the cabin on a flight between Brisbane and Auckland.

January 21, 2000: Fumes entered the cabin of a BAe 146, forcing it to return to Darwin.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0005/08/national/national03.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 07, 2000

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Another Qantas flight grounded

Source: AAP | Published: Tuesday May 9, 6:42 AM

Technical problems continue to dog Qantas, with an international flight being grounded in Perth for 13 hours on Sunday due to a mechanical fault.

Flight QF63, a Boeing 747-400, had left Sydney's Mascot Airport for Perth on its way to Johannesburg, South Africa.

A Qantas spokeswoman said a faulty part in the aircraft's display system, providing fuel readout details, had to be replaced, grounding the plane for 13 hours.

"The 329 passengers were accommodated in Perth hotels while the fault was fixed," the spokeswoman said.

"The plane was always going to stop in Perth to pick up extra passengers, so it wasn't an unscheduled stop."

In another incident on Sunday, the Qantas jumbo jet that skidded off a Bangkok runway last year had to be grounded in Hong Kong after technical problems were detected one hour after the plane took off.

Qantas Flight 128 was grounded one hour into the flight when a problem was detected with one of the generators.

Ground engineers fixed the problem and the Sydney-bound flight was rescheduled to leave the same day but the same problem was detected as the crew prepared to take off for the second time.

The 259 passengers were accommodated in hotels before being rebooked on other flights.

The Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson is to meet with Qantas chief James Strong today to discuss safety issues.

Aviation regulator Mick Toller would also be present at the meeting in Canberra.

A spokesman for Mr Anderson said the meeting did not constitute a crisis meeting.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is also beginning a routine audit of Qantas engineering and maintenance.

http://www.smh.com.au/breaking/0005/09/A49988-2000May9.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 08, 2000.